I remember when my son was very young he was petrified of elevators. He would stand at the threshold and hesitate to get in even with much coaxing. To this day he still hates elevators..... he is twenty three now. He is a child who loves silence, and would only speak when he deems it necessary or when spoken to. The Bible encourages us to be swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger (James 1:9), but James is not implying to be totally silent. On the contrary, we should know when to speak, hence the old adage 'there is a time for everything'. Words can be constructive or extremely destructive. The Bible is the spoken Word of God, and testifies that the earth and universe was created by the command of the Creator (Genesis 1:1), and yet at the command of the same God, Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed Genesis( 19:1-29). Today, there are so many ways to communicate and so many avenues in which one can do it, yet I have noticed many people have difficulty speaking to one another. Take the elevator for instance. Consider the typical scenario... it's morning, people are in this enclosed moving box heading to work minding their own business. These days most people are looking at their phones, or reading the morning paper while the remnant are staring at the increasing readout of ascending floors. The big bucket of silence stops, I get in and with passion quips GOOD MORNING. My father taught me to respect my elders, show equal honor to women and as he said 'have some manners'. Today these things are becoming inconvenient to us busy people and so are fading away. God bless the parents who instill these golden nuggets in the hearts of our children. Back to my elevator transgression. Maybe of the nine or so occupants I get a slight nod and a forced smile from two, no response from five and bad looks from the other two. Not one returned the greeting. Did I feel bad? Not at all, because I knew what to expect. Some need an intoxicating substance to be eloquent, while others need a listening forum or to be the center of attraction. Most of the time no one speaks because no one is listening. Good conversation is dying because I don't need you say it, I can simply google it. Technology is gradually dissolving such an art that has taken thousands of years to develop. We now say 'don't tell me now just text me'. Where is all this going? Where all good practice and tradition is going. Down the degeneration road. Don't despair however, there is hope. Not everyone is going to embrace the transformation of post modernism. There are many who will understand the balance between faithfully serving the Lord and adjusting to this world's system. God commanded Israel to constantly speak his words to every generation through parenting or what we call today FAMILY TIME. God encourages us to speak to each other all the time( Malachi 3:16). You cannot know someone by texting. there is a big difference between texting a joke and saying it live. Let's strike up a conversation and see where it goes. More importantly speak to the Lord often and let's see what He does. God bless.
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I am the pastor of Healing Life Ministries. I guess by now you're impressed with the launch of our new website. Today, however, introductions are going to be of a more personal nature because you don't know me yet. I am originally from Trinidad, W.Indies, where I came to faith at the age of sixteen and moved to Canada in 1990. I got married in 1992 and planted my first church in 2001 called Great City Community Church. A few years later my wife and I planted our current church called Healing Life Ministries and it's been growing ever since. I am a preacher and teacher of the Word and believes in responsible moral living. My wife's name is Malanie and we've been married for 25 years with 3 children, all young adults serving the Lord. This blog is an open door for me to get to know you as well. From time to time I will be posting excerpts from my Sunday morning sermons, exhortations from scripture and helpful nuggets of wisdom based on request. I will even pray with you if necessary. Is this just another website? In it's fundamental structure YES, but also NO. Feel free to tap into my almost 40 years of christian experience, I will love to help. I am here to feed the lambs and sheep. God bless.
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